Vegetable display and conditioning stand



V. A. PETERSON VEGETABLE DISFLAY AND CONDITIONING STAND April 14, 1942.

Filed June, 17, 1940 1 1%.5 vflti fi j/wf/vro/e v yg yvolv ziPET/SRSd/VATTORNE y iiurllull i llal -l-wu i. a l

Patented Apr. 14, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,279,521 VEGETABLEDISPLAY AND CONDITIONING STAND Vernon A. Peterson, Palm Springs, Calif.

1940, Serial No. 340,978

Application June 17,

10 Claims.

My invention relates generally to display stands that are particularlydesigned for use in displaying various perishable commodities, forinstance, fresh vegetables, fruits, and the like, and the principalobjects of my invention are, to generally improve upon and simplify theconstruction of the existing forms of vegetable display and conditioningstands and to provide a relatively simple, practical and inexpensivestand having means for subjecting the displayed products to moisture inthe form of spray or mist and at the same time to circulate fresh airthrough the stand in order to maintain the vegetables or othercommodities fresh and to preserve their natural characteristics.

Further objects of my invention are, to provide a display stand of thecharacter referred to wherein the displayed vegetables and otherproducts are maintained in a moist condition by means of moisture thatdischarges from spray heads disposed above the displayed products, whichspray heads are supported from the rear of the stand, further, toprovide means for forcing humidified and conditioned air from a chamberin the lower portion of the stand upwardly through the trays or racksthat carry the vegetables and products displayed for sale and further,to provide time controlled means for automatically opening and closingthe valve that controls the flow of water to the spray heads.

A further object of my invention is, to provide a display stand which,with the exception of an air filter of fabric, is composed wholly ofmetal, thereby providing a strong and substantial structure that is notsubject to rapid deterioration as a result of the presence ofpractically continuous moisture.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists incertain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts thatwill be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated inthe accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1' is a front elevational view of a display and conditioning standconstructed in accordance with my invention, with parts thereof brokenaway and in vertical section.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line r 3--3 of Fig. 2.

the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and illustrating one of the spray heads used onAs illustrated in the stand. the drawing, the body of the stand issubstantially rectangular in form and comprises a bottom l0, rear wallll, front wall l2 and end walls l3. All of these walls are preferablyconstructed of metal, such as galvanized sheet iron, and in order toprovide clearance and ventilation beneath the stand, it is supported atthe corners by short legs IA.

The front wall I2 inclines slightly forward and the intermediate andrear portions of the end walls are higher than said front wall. Theupper edges of the front portions of the end walls l3 are inclined so asto conform with the inclined positions occupied by the trays containingthe displayed vegetables or other products.

The rear wall ll extends a substantial distance above the upper rearportions of the end walls l3 and projecting forwardly from the upperedge of said rear wall is a narrow horizon tally disposed plate l5 thatextends the entire length of the stand and secured to and depending fromthe front edge of this plate is a narrow vertically disposed plate l6.

Arranged in the upper rear portion of the stand and positioned parallelwith the rear wall H is a wall H, the upper edge of which terminatesjust behind the lower portion of plate I6. The ends of this wall I! aresuitably connected to the end walls l3 and positioned immediately infront of wall I1 is a horizontally disposed plate l8 that extends theentire length of the stand with its ends secured to the upper rear edgesof the end walls I3.

Secured to the upper portions of the end walls 13 between the upper edgeof front wall 12 and the front edge of plate l8 are longitudinallydisposed rails l9, presumably formed of metal, and secured to theselongitudinally disposed rails are short cross rails 20 that occupypositions parallel with the end walls and these rails l9 and 20 providea skeleton rack or racks for receiving and supporting the trays T thatare packed with vegetables or other products displayed for sale.

Suitably secured to brackets or flanges 2] that project forwardly fromthe lower edge of wall H, from the upper portion of front wall [2 justbelow the tray supporting racks and from the end walls, is a shallow pan22 that gradually declines from all four edges toward its center andsaid pan providing a receptacle that receives the water that is sprayed,onto the displayed products after said water has passed downwardlythrough the trays and the racks on which said trays are supported.Formed in the center of this tray is a fairly large opening in which isseated a ring 23 and secured on top of the tray and disposed above andspaced apart from said ring is a combined hood and deflector 24 thatdeclines gradually from its center in all directions toward its edge.

Secured on the under face of the central portion of this hood is a smallcircular deflector 25, preferably formed of sheet metal, and the underface of which inclines gradually in all directions from its centertoward its edge.

Suitably secured to the lower end of the ring 23 is the upper end of acircular wall 26 of suitable air-conditioning fabric and the lower endof this fabric wall is suitably secured to a collar 27 that projectsupwardly from the housing 28 of a blower, preferably of the squirrelcage type. This blower is driven from a small electric suitablysupported in the lower portion of the body of the stand and the housing28 of this blower is provided in one or both sides with air inletopenings.

Secured to and depending from the tray 22 adjacent the ring 23 is adrain outlet 32 for the water that accumulates in said pan and disposedover said outlet is a screen 33 which prevents leaves, scraps of paper,or the like, from clogging the outlet. Suitable connections are madefrom this outlet to the sewer.

A water supply pipe 34 provided with a valve 35 leads into the lowerportion of the stand and is connected to a horizontally disposed pipe 35located beneath the tray 22. Connected to one end of this pipe 36 is apipe 3? that extends upwardly through the tray, thence to a point abovethe hood 34 and secured to the end of this pipe 31 and arranged todischarge directly onto the elevated central surface of the hood is aspray head 33. Connected to the opposite end of pipe 36 is the lower endof a vertically disposed pipe 39 that extends upwardly inside one of theend walls of the stand and connect-ed to the upper end of this pipe is ahorizontally disposed Water distributing pipe 40 that is suitablysupported beneath plate I 5 and behind plate it.

Connected to' and extending forwardly from pipe 40'are horizontallydisposed branch pipes 4i and connected to the forward ends of said pipesand projecting downwardly therefrom are short pipe sections 42, eachcarrying on its lower end a spray head illustrated in detail in Fig. 4.Each spray head comprises a short tubular nipple 43, on the lower end ofwhich is screw seated a cap 44 provided in its lower end with an opening 45.

Removably seated in the lower portion of cap 44 is a disc 46 through thecenter of which is formed a small aperture 41 and the upper portion ofthis aperture is countersunk as designated by 48. Resting on top of discis the lower end of a cap 49 that projects upwardly into the lowerportion of nipple 43 and a short portion of the edge of cap 49 betweenits upper and side surfaces is cut away to form a notch 50, the innerportion of which notch communicates with the opening through nipple 43.

Leading through the wall of cap 49 from the lower portion of notch 50 isan inclined port 5| that is adapted to discharge a small jet of waterdownwardly in an inclined direction into and through the chamber in cap49.

Located in pipe 36 adjacent one of the end walls of the stand is a valve52 for controlling the flow of water from supply pipe 34 to pipes 39, 40and the branch pipes 4|, and this valve is opened. and closed byconventional electrically operated means contained within a housing 53motor 29 and said electrically operated means being controlled by aclock 54.

This clock 54 is of the type that may be set so as to cause theelectrically operated means associated therewith to open and close valve50 at pre-determined time intervals, thus permitting the vegetables orother products displayed on the stand to be intermittently subjected tospray from the spray heads carried by the tubes 42 and also enabling theperiods of spraying to be varied as desired.

During the spraying of the displayed vegetables or other products andthe circulation of conditioned air upwardly through the trays and thegoods contained therein, electrically operated valve 52 which iscontrolled by the clock 54 is opened, thereby permitting water to flowfrom supply pipe 34 into and through pipes 36, 39, and 43, and from thelatter the water passes through the pipes 42 that carry the spray heads.

This water which is under a certain degree of pressure flows throughnotch 59 and thence through inclined port 5| so that it is discharged ina downwardly inclined path into the chamber within cap 49 and from saidchamber the water in the form of a fine spray or mist discharges fromaperture 47 directly onto the vegetables or other products contained inthe trays that occupy inclined positions in the upper front portion ofthe stand.

Simultaneously with this spraying of the displayed products, water willissue from spray head 38 onto the hood 24 and after passing downwardlytherecver this water discharges from the marginal edge of said hood,thus providing in effect a thin film of water entirely around the edgeof the hood.

Motor 29 drives the blower within the housing 28 and air is drawnthrough the openings in the side of the housing and this air afterpassing upwardly through the blower is forced upwardly through tube 27and ring 23 and also through the chamber surrounded by theair-conditioning fabric 26. I

This air striking against the deflector 25 on the under side of hood 24causes the air to pass radially outward in all directions beneath saidhood and to pass through the thin film of Water discharging from theedge of said hood and the air thus moistened aft-er filling the space inthe stand immediately above the pan 22, will pass upwardly through thetrays and their contents, thus combining with the moisture that isdischarged from the spray heads on the tubes 42 in maintaining thedisplayed vegetables in fresh condition.

The wall of air-conditioning fabric 26. is for the purpose of providinga flexible connection between tube 27 and ring 23 and thus no vibrationof the motor driven blower will be transmitted to the pan 22 and partscarried thereby.

By using a time controlled electrically operated valve in the water line.to' which the spray heads are connected, the spraying operation may becaused to take place intermittently and. the timing of the sprayingperiods may be regulated as desired and in accordance with the conditionof the displayed products.

Among the particularly desirable features of my invention are, thelocation of the spray heads above the trays that are packed with thevegetables or other products, the supportingof said spray heads from theupper rear portion of the stand, the forcing of. conditioned humidified'air upwardly through the products displayed upon the stand, and themounting cfthe blower and its motor underneath the water after it haspassed through the displayed products and which latter arrangementeliminates possibility of short circuiting of the motor as a result ofan excess of moisture in the chamber in which the motor is located.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a vegetable display andconditioning stand that is relatively simple in construction,inexpensive of manufacture and very effective in performing thefunctions for which it is intended.

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form andconstruction of the various parts of my improved vegetable display andconditioning stand, may be made and substituted for those herein shownand described, without departing from the spirit of my invention, thescope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination with asubstantially rectangular housing having a bottom, a front wall, a rearwall and end walls, the rear wall extending above the front and endwalls of the housing, of means for supporting trays in the upper portionof said housing, a pan supported within said housing below said trays,said pan being provided with an opening, means for forcing air from thechamber below said pan upwardly through said opening and upwardlythrough the trays supported in the upper portion of the housing, a hoodpositioned above the opening in said pan and means for discharging wateronto said hood.

2. A vegetable display and conditioning stand as set forth in claim 1and with a time controlled electrically operated valve located in thewater supply pipe.

3. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination with asubstantially rectangular housing having a bottom, a front wall, a rearwall and end walls, the rear wall extending above the front and endwalls of the housing, of

pan that receives the means for supporting trays in the upper portion ofsaid housing, a pan supported within said housing below said trays, atubular structure leading from the chamber beneath said pan upwardlythrough said pan, said tubular structure including a wall of flexiblematerial and means for forcing air from the chamber beneath said panupwardly through said tubular structure.

4. A vegetable display and conditioning stand as set forth in claim 3,with means for humidifying the air that discharges from the upper end ofsaid tubular structure.

5. A vegetable display and conditioning stand as set forth in claim 3,with a hood positioned on the pan above the upper end of said tubularstructure and means for delivering water onto said hood.

6. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination with asubstantially rectangular housing of means for supporting trays in theupper portion. of said housing, a pan positioned within the housingbelow said trays and dividing the space within the housing into upperand lower chambers, said pan being provided with an opening and meansincluding an electric motor for forcing air from the lower chamberupwardly through the opening in said pan and through the trays in saidupper chamher.

'7. A vegetable display and conditioning stand as set forth in claim 6,with menas for humidifying the air discharged into said upper chamber.

8. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination with asubstantially rectangular housing and means within said housing fordividing upper and lower cha bers, of means for supporting vegetabletrays in the upper portion of the upper chamber, means located in thelower one of the chambers within said housing for forcing air from saidlower chamber upwardly into the upper chamber and upwardly through saidvegetable trays, means for humidifying the air discharged into saidupper chamber and means supported by the upper rear portion of saidhousing for delivering water spray onto the trays and their contents.

9. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination with asubstantially rectangular housing, of a pan positioned within saidhousing and dividing the space therein into upper and lower chambers,means for supporting vegetable trays in the upper portion of the upperhousing, there being an opening in the central portion of said pan,means located in the chamber below said pan for forcing air upwardlythrough said opening, a hood positioned above the opening in the pan, adeflector on the under side of the central portion of said hood andmeans for delivering water spray onto said hood.

10. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination witha substantially rectangular housing, of a pan positioned within saidhousingand dividing the space therein into upper and lower chambers,means for supporting vegetable trays in the upper portion of the upperhousing, there central portion of said pan, means located in the chamberbelow said pan for forcing air upwardly through said opening, above theopening in the pan, a deflector on the under side of the central portionof said hood, means for delivering water spray onto said hood and meanssuported by the upper portion of said housing for delivering water sprayonto said trays and their contents.

VERNON A. PETERSON.

the space therein into separate,

being an opening in the" a hood positioned

